Machine for making dry cells



Dec. 6, 1960 Filed Oct. 14, 1955 M. ORLANDO ETAL MACHINE FOR MAKING DRY CELLS 19 Sheets-Sheet 1 m awm hai INVENTORS MATTHEW ORLANDO LEONARD SOHUB fiuwm a F .7 #1.,

ATTORNE S Dec. 6, 1960 M. ORLANDO ETAL 2,962,844

MACHINE FOR MAKING DRY CELLS 19 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 14. 1955 INVENTORS O D B Auw MH H 0 05 v M WD m R ER 0 m Ww T W B A AME I ML M Y M w M 1 0w Dec. 6, 1960 M. ORLANDO ETAL 2,962,844

MACHINE FOR MAKING DRY CELLS Filed bot. 14, 1955 19 Sheets-Sheet a FIG. 3

INVENTORS MATTHEW 0R LANIDO LEON ARD SCH UB ATTORNEYS 1960 M. ORLANDO ETAL 2,962,844

MACHINE FOR MAKING DRY CELLS Filed Oct. 14, 1955 19 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS MATTHEW ORLANDO BY LEONARD SCHUB 7 1, a M i Emm lawn 'ATTORNE s Dec. 6, 1960 M. ORLANDO ETAL 2,962,844 MACHINE FOR MAKING DRY CELLS Filed 001;. 14, 1955 19 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG? INVENTORJS MATTHEW ORLANDG BY LEONARD SCHUB 2 (law d4 l mb 13mm Y 3 W V) I ATTORNEYS Dec. 6, 1960 M. ORLANDO ETAL 2,962,844

MACHINE FOR MAKING DRY CELLS Filed Oct. 14, 1955 19 Sheets-Sheet 6 FIG.8

mvENToRs MATTHEW ORLANDO BY LEONARD SCHUB M Q A MAZW, Aim/in J y ATTORNEYS M. ORLANDO ETAL 2,962,844 MACHINE FOR MAKING DRY CELLS Dec. 6, 1960 19 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed Oct. 14, 1955 INVENTORS MATTHEW ORLANDO LEONARD SCHUB VZWJL, FdWvAhm/w, m 3

ATTORN v: m: 2% m2 LANDO 8 Rx? xv x w a 5: .5: .L m m m M. D l W W s: I WWW WA Dec. 6, 1960 Filed Oct. 14, 1955 Dec. 6, 1960 M. ORLANDO ET AL 2,962,844

MACHINE FOR MAKING DRY CELLS Filed Oct. 14, 1955 19 Sheets-Sheet 9 INVENTORS MATTHEW ORLANDO Y LEONARD SCHUB 2W 0 Maw m jayf ATTORNEYS Dec. 6, 1960 M. ORLANDO ETAL 2,962,844

MACHINE FOR MAKING DRY CELLS Filed 001;. 14, 1955 1e Sheets-Sheet 1o I 1', Q INVENTORS r N MATTEEgJ glzl moo 11: m BYLEON R s S a P-fMw M I 1?;uuu (v i ATTO EYS Dec. 6, 1960 M. ORLANDO ETAL MACHINE FOR MAKING DRY CELLS l9 Sheets-Sheet 11 Filed 001;. 14, 1955 47(71/ ATTORNEYS INVENTORS MATTHEW ORLANDO BY LEONARD SGHUB EM lz gmnim [5mm YJ I III Dec. 6, 1960 M. ORLANDO ET AL 2,962,344

MACHINE FOR MAKING DRY CELLS Filed Oct. 14, 1955 19 Sheets-Sheet 12 385 FIG. 23

INVENTORS MATTHEW ORLAN DO LEONARD SCHUB ATTORNEY Dec. 6, 1960 M. ORLANDO ET AL 2,962,844

MACHINE FOR MAKING DRY CELLS Filed 001;. 14, 1955 19 Sheets-Sheet 15 Dec. 6, 1960 M. ORLANDO ET AL 2,962,344

MACHINE FOR MAKING DRY CELLS l9 Sheets-Sheet 14 Filed Oct. 14, 1955 0 MB 5 AW J 5 R L Y 0R0 H? E M mm E D Wm m 1 TM 5 A N ME I ,NML Y B M f /M rw,

Dec. 6, 1960 M. ORLANDO ETAL 2,962,844

MACHINE FOR MAKING DRY CELLS Filed Oct. 14, 1955 19 Sheets- Sheet 15 l g I II I PIT I a 5i 5: l j

i a; i J) l J r g LL.

INVENTORS MATTHEW ORLANDO LEONARD SCHUB ATTORNEYS Dec. 6, 1960 M. ORLANDO ET AL 2,962,844

MACHINE FOR MAKING DRY CELLS INVENTORS ATT mwm

mwm mwn MATTHEW ORLANDO LEONARD ISCHUB n-w rd C 1/ gain Dec. 6, 1960 M. ORLANDO ETAL 2,962,844

MACHINE FOR MAKING DRY CELLS l9 Sheets-Sheet 17 Filed Oct. 14, 1955 o MB 7 SAU S RLH VY ORG E T0 MN N R EW 0 VER NHARV IA 5 Y B W A m W 0M Dec. 6, 1960 M. ORLANDO ET AL 2,962,844

MACHINE FOR MAKING DRY CELLS l9 Sheets-Sheet 18 Filed Oct. 14, 1955 mum 0 WE m w Or c a T a m mww m v T HA mTW M ME ML Y B 7M, AM

Dec. 6, 1960 M. ORLANDO ETAL 2,962,844

MACHINE FOR MAKING DRY CELLS Filed Oct. 14, 1955 19 Sheets-Sheet 19 Y J A, ATTO NEYS United States Patent MACHINE FOR MAKING DRY CELLS Matthew Orlando, 573 Pearl St., Oceanside, N.Y., and Leonard Schub, 534 Allen Road, Woodmere, N.Y.

Filed Oct. 14, 1955, Ser. No. 540,463

19 Claims. (CI. 53-36) This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for making dry cells, and more particularly to mechanism in which empty metal cans, which are to form the anodes of the cells, are fed to an intermittently moving belt and the other components of the cell are delivered to and inserted in the can as it travels along the belt.

The invention further comprises certain improvements in dry cells, particularly with respect to the closure thereof.

In carrying out our invention, we provide a receiver to which the cans are delivered, the receiver being provided with a track on which the cans are positioned and fed to a chute which in turn delivers them to the belt. It is essential that the cans be arranged on the belt with their open ends at the side facing the various mechanisms which deliver the other components of the cell to the can. The invention comprises means for reversing any cans that are delivered from the receiver in a reversed position, that is, so positioned that the closed bottom of the can would face the side of the belt from which the other components are fed.

The invention further comprises a means for forming a paper liner and inserting it in a can on the belt. In alignment with one of the stations, that is, with its line of travel at right angles to the line of travel of the belt, we provide mechanism comprising a roll of liner material, means for feeding it to a former, means for forming the material into a cylinder, means for cutting the cylinder into predetermined lengths, and means for feeding the cut cylinder into the can.

After the liner has been inserted in the can, we form and deliver a cup washer to the can. This washer is initially positioned in the can near its upper open end. The side walls of the cup have suificient inherent elasticity to force the paper liner into close proximity to the inner wall of the can as the washer is moved downwardly into the cup.

After the cup washer, which eventually becomes the bottom washer of the cell, has been placed in the can, the belt moves the can into alignment with an extruder nozzle. By way of example, in the manufacture of one type of cell, depolarizing mix of manganese dioxide, conductive carbon, suitable electrolyte salts, such as ammonium chloride and zinc chloride, and enough water to make a pasty mass is delivered to the can in predetermined amount.

In the extruding process, which is herein utilized, the can serves as the metering device to control the amount of mix delivered to it. It is well known that if dry cells are to be produced of uniform quality and having uniform performance characteristics, a uniform amount of depolarizer mix must be placed in each can and the mix must be uniformly compacted in the cans. We accomplish this by first positioning the can in a predetermined position on the nozzle of the extruder. Depolarizing mix is then delivered to the nozzle by a plunger. The nozzle forms a close fit with the inside of the can. The nozzle may also be provided with a by-pass or section forming a discharge passage. Or, as an alternative, the pressure exerted by the plunger may be controlled, as by employing a spring loaded plunger, so that the degree to which the mix is compacted is limited. Thus, when the mix fills the can from the bottom to the end of the nozzle within the can, and has been compacted a predetermined amount, the spring may absorb any further power that is applied or the excess may escape through the bypass. Such excess is returned to the hopper of the extruding m:chine.

After the mix has been fed into the can and has forced the cup washer to the bottom of the can to form a separator between the mix and the bottom of the can the upper edge of the liner is folded into the can.

A carbon pencil and a closure member are then placed in the end of the can. We employ a closure member having a central opening for the passage of the carbon pencil. The closure member is formed of a compressible, elastic, plastic material, such as polyethylene, particularly the heat-resisting grades of polyethylene. Other materials that may be employed are polytetrafiuoroethylene, polychlorotrifluoroethylene, neoprene, natural rubber, rubbery vinyl copolymers and rubbery vinylidene chlo' ride copolymers. The closure disc may originally be slightly larger than the inside diameter of the can, and the opening may be large enough to permit the pencil to be moved through it without difficulty, or the carbon may be force-fitted in the hole.

In assembling the cell, the carbon is first partly placed in the disc and by continuing the movement and applying sufficient pressure, the carbon is forced into the mix while at the same time the disc is held stationary. When the carbon reaches a predetermined position near the bottom of the can, the closure disc is forced through a funnel-shaped member which reduces its outside dimension and causes it to enter the mouth of the can, where it remains under radial pressure due to the tendency of the material to expand to its normal unrestricted size. The radial compression of the disc not only forms a tight joint between the disc and the inner wall of the cell can, but it also compresses the material of the disc around the carbon pencil and forms a tight seal between them. A brass contact cap is placed on the end of the carbon pencil. The cap blank is cut from a strip that is intermittently fed. It is shaped to form a cap in a suitable die, and then placed on the end of the carbon of a cell in position on the belt.

A cell having many advantages over cells made in other ways is thus obtained. It not only has better, and more uniform performance characteristics, because of the uniformity of the mix and other parts of the cells, but the closure is an important improvement from the standpoint of performance based on the dependability of its seal and also from the standpoint of appearance.

In the accompanying drawings, we have shown a machine forming part of the invention and capable of use in practicing the process of the invention.

In this showing:

Fig. l is a front elevation of the complete machine;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation, looking from the left in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a similar view of the other end of the machine;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal, sectional view of part of the mechanism for feeding cans to the intermittently moving belt, substantially on line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a vertical, sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 5a is a detailed, sectional view of a portion of a can feeding mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the apparatus at the first station of the belt where a cylindrical liner of paper or the like is formed and placed in the can;

Fig. 7 is a view, similar to Fig. 6, of the forward end 

